University Hills

Pricing trends

University Hills prices below University Park and Wellshire and alongside Virginia Village for detached homes, with renovated ranches near Eisenhower Park and the canal at the top and original ranches and the condominiums near the station offering the entry points. The Denver table below carries the citywide numbers.

Citywide figures for Denver. Source: Local Market Update, August 2026, REcolorado data compiled by the Colorado Association of REALTORS®. Neighborhood-level figures vary; ask me for comparables on any specific home. See all area tables.

About University Hills

University Hills is the 1950s neighborhood east of the University of Denver, between Colorado Boulevard and Interstate 25, built around Eisenhower Park and the Highline Canal. Its brick ranches on wide lots, its two shopping centers and the Colorado station on the light rail make it one of the most convenient neighborhoods in southeast Denver, and its prices still sit below University Park next door.

Location

University Hills runs from Yale Avenue south to Hampden Avenue between Colorado Boulevard and Interstate 25, with University Park and Wellshire to the west, Goldsmith and Virginia Village to the north, Hampden and Southmoor to the east and Cherry Hills Village south across Hampden. The Colorado station on the E and H lines is at the northeast corner; the Tech Center is ten minutes south.

History and background

University Hills was farmland along the Highline Canal east of the University of Denver until the late 1940s, when Denver annexed it and developers platted it as one of the city's first large post-war subdivisions, named for the university on its western edge.

The brick ranches went up between 1950 and 1958, and the University Hills shopping center, opened in 1955 on Colorado Boulevard, was one of the first suburban-style shopping centers in Denver. Eisenhower Park and its pool were built in the same years and named for the president who spent his summers in the city.

The neighborhood remained a steady middle-class area through the following decades. The opening of the Colorado light rail station in 2006 and the redevelopment of the aging shopping center with new stores, apartments and a theater in the 2010s brought a new generation of buyers to its original ranches.

Housing and architecture

The streets hold 1950s brick ranches on 60- to 80-foot lots, many with basements and attached garages, with a few 1940s houses near Yale, 1960s homes toward Hampden and condominium and apartment communities along Colorado Boulevard and near the station. Renovation and rebuilds have spread from University Park and Wellshire since the 2010s.

Parks and recreation

Eisenhower Park, with its recreation center, outdoor pool and ball fields, is the neighborhood's center, and the Highline Canal Trail runs through it toward Wellshire and the Hampden area. Observatory Park and the University of Denver's Ritchie Center are west, and Bible Park is north.

Dining, shopping and daily life

The University Hills shopping center and the Colorado station development on Colorado Boulevard carry a King Soopers, restaurants, services and the Alamo Drafthouse, with the Happy Canyon center on Hampden adding more. The University of Denver's campus and Old South Pearl Street are a short drive west.